It's not a question of being "unkind" governments are neither kind nor unkind. They can be diligent. Just play by the rules.

The following is only my personal experience so it is in no way definitive, but I have to refute the "zero chance" statement made above. I'm a US citizen and my fiance is a naturalized Argentine. We decided to try to have him come to the US to visit my family in December for the holidays. Originally we planned that he would say that he wanted to visit friends and wouldn't mention my name or my family. After talking to an immigration attorney in the US we decided to tell the truth at the embassy and take our chances. The attorney made the very good point that it is never a good idea to lie or hide the truth from the state department. He told me that my fiance had less than a 50/50 chance (in his opinion) of getting the visa since we're both young (early 20s), he's an immigrant to Argentina, doesn't own any property, etc. We gathered all the relevant documentation (lease, documents showing he's employed and in school, even his parent's relevant documentation) and I asked my mother to send a letter of invitation.

On the day of his appointment I went to the embassy as well. The woman interviewing us was very nice and as soon as she realized that I'm American and speak English she stopped speaking Spanish and instead directed her questions to me to translate. We offered to show her all the papers we brought but the only thing she wanted to see was the letter from my mom and documentation from my fiance's university. After about 10 minutes of pretty basic questions she gave him the tourist visa for 10 years, wished us safe travels and good luck on our engagement and sent us on our way. She did warn us that he should NEVER overstay his tourist visa, especially since we're planning on moving back to the US in the future, but when I explained that I'm also working here (and that I'm dealing with Argentine immigration myself) she relaxed.

We went to the US in December, had no problems with customs/border control and had a lovely time. I realize that this may not be relevant to the OP's situation, but when I saw that people were writing in such absolutes I decided to share. I expected a much more difficult experience (mean interviewers, lots of personal questions, etc) and instead found it quick, painless and even pleasant.

Again, I don't know if we were just lucky or what, but in my opinion it is better to tell the truth than take the chance that the state department finds out the truth. If any sort of fraud is detected they can revoke your visa permanently. Our experience shows that it is possible, even without property or very strong ties to Argentina, to bring a significant other to the US on a tourist visa without lying.

What do you do if the ask you straight up if you have a BF/GF in the US or who is American?

Say "I have good friends."

The OP's case very different than the one stated by Katie because the OP is living in the US.

I would think that probally is going to get you into problems

It's really easy to get caught in a conversation where you don't want to go

Hi all, thanks for all the useful info. It turns out she has a multiple entry B1/B2 Tourist visa that's good for 10 years, so that's good news. However, I am still concerned about the fact that a visa is no guarantee of entry into the US and it all depends on the customs interview. Given that she has a valid visa, a return ticket, and a gig (PhD program) in BA, is there anything I can or should do to help the situation? Write a letter of support or something? I've heard of such things, but I am not sure if they are mostly for the visa application process (which is already completed) or for the customs interview upon arrival in the US. and don't worry, the message is definitely received regarding NOT implying any romantic involvement. I have no trouble withholding information about my personal life from my government, since it really is non of their goddamn business!

There seems to be no shortage of strong opinions on this subject, and I certainly appreciate them, but I am especially interested in those of you who have personal experience or know actual stories about valid visa holding Argentinians who have visited the US. What kind of issues have they had and what do they recommend. I have already scoured US .gov websites on official policy and I am curious about actual practice.

She's not going to have any problems, I can't imagine, if she already has a valid tourist visa and has not been in the country longer than she was supposed to be previously. Yes, the immigration official has the ability to approve or deny her entry no matter what her visa status is, but they're not going to deny her entry unless they have a valid reason - that's what visas are for, so passengers can know ahead of time that they can enter the country.

It's the application that is the problem usually. I have never heard of anyone with a valid visa and no history of abusing the visa that have been denied entry on arrival.

Three of the programmers who work for me managed to get tourist visas as well. My friend had a girlfriend (until recently) who has made two trips to the States in the last year with a tourist visa. They have all entered the States more than once with their visas with no issues.

If she's staying with you, then it might be a good idea for you to write up a little something stating that in case they ask. I would (color) photocopy your state driver license on the back of the letter as well, just so the CPB officer knows that you actually wrote it.

Most importantly:

1. Have the return ticket itinerary printed
2. Have information from the university stating that she's still enrolled in the PhD program.
3. Show statements from an Argentine bank account that show she has money to support herself. This is the biggie. She should probably bring statements from the previous three months before she goes to the United States. Also, she should bring any and all credit cards.

I've not heard of anyone being denied entry if they can show all of those items above. They might not even ask for anything, but it's best to be safe than sorry.

Will do.
good to know, will do.
hmm, might be problematic: She has no credit cards and I'm wondering how much a graduate student savings account is going to impress a US customs official, let alone an Argentinian one. hopefully two outta three aint bad, right?

Well, you and I will have to agree to disagree as to which will get you into more trouble!